Thinking of moving on from the corporate world? 10 questions that helped me see clearly

My friends & ex colleagues from corporate world very often talk to me, candidly, their wish to get out of a 10-5 routine and do what their heart desires. Having observed me for close to a year operating independently in the domain of executive & business coaching, the questions are about when I thought about it & how I went about it?.  I do share honestly all of it. It seems to build their confidence. I am however cautious enough to add that each of us who change their career direction have to think through their transition and journey. Each individual is unique and so is their thinking.

At the end of the day, each one of us takes our decisions based on our goals & current situation. It is therefore imperative that we focus on these two and ask ourselves the questions. My ten questions would be:

1.     What would I love doing (goals) if I do not wish to continue a job in the corporate world?

2.     What are my key requirements and desires that I want fulfilled by being independent?

3.     What is so special and unique about these requirements that it can only be fulfilled by being independent?

4.     What more do I need to acquire (knowledge & skills) to do that successfully?

5.     Who all would be helpful & supportive to my plans & thereafter?

6.     Which stakeholders will be impacted by my decision and what would be their needs that I must take care of?

7.     How can I address the needs of my stakeholders (Parents, Kids, Spouse) in the transition phase?

8.     What actions I need to take, to be successful in my new career? Am I committed and comfortable doing those?

9.     What are my financial obligations that I need to manager now & later (within next 2 years of change)?

10.            What would I miss out on, if I do not make a career change now?

There could be questions, different and more, which people who have changed career could tell you. It is my view that answers to these 10 questions would make you reflect hard and take a better decision. My experience having gone through this phase and also coaching people have helped me frame them. I have helped a client make this decision & transition, successfully. Another friend decided against changing career as some of these questions helped him think more clearly.

I was compelled to write this blog as few days back a close friend and ex colleague met me and shared that he seems to be at the brink of taking a decision to quit. I sensed from his statements that he may be missing out on some pieces (after all I am a coach J ). So I asked him a few questions out of those I mentioned here. He thought & thought and smiled. He said no one has asked me these questions. “These questions are making me think & let me therefore write them down and work on it. It will give me clarity of thinking and possibly way ahead”.

What he revealed later was quite interesting. He shared “when I have bounced these thoughts off other close friends, they were unable to give me any valuable insight to help me set my decision, leaving me as indecisive and confused as previously”.

So when you come to a point where you cannot tolerate where you are, because you want to celebrate your goals, it's time for a new start. Begin with these questions.

Mr HR Manager , There is an elephant in the room !

My own data & findings are not new. It further corroborates which most always feared was the case. Human resource function has to work more to make employees trust people and organizations.

Trust has been long been seen & believed as one key factor in helping people create long lasting and fruitful relationships. Yet we find that this subject is not being discussed by HR at senior levels. Is not building relationship between employees, organization the basis to attracting & retaining talent?

HR and HR systems are very important to the process of building trust. If we do not change the basic HR processes around promotion, appraisal, reward, leader selection and so on to reflect the importance of trust to the organisation, we are not going to get trust.” And it’s just as important for organisations that already have high levels of trust to maintain them.

Here in lies the biggest challenge for HR. HR itself is not trusted by employees.

HR is seen & perceived as siding with top management. The exercise of annual performance appraisal leads a lot to be desired and HR is seen as people & function holding back more than revealing. There association and anchoring of any right sizing & restructuring exercise in the organization also creates trust issues with employees.

HR is also challenged by behaviours at leadership level added to the fact that senior leadership teams tend not to project a cohesive picture. Irrespective HR has a role to play in building & help resolve trust issues? There will always be issues in top teams, but the more dysfunctional they are, the less people trust them. Making sure the head office works as a team and supports the organisation is something HR rarely thinks about.

Why does trust matter at all? Leaders achieve success with teams when they show
& share their vulnerabilities. The willingness for somebody to take a risk, to allow themselves to feel vulnerable, believing the other person has an attitude of goodwill towards them is all about trust building.

It is not engagement. Trust is much more fundamental. If employee just trusts his boss and not the senior leadership team, we can do masses of engagement activities, yet there shall be no radical rise in performance, as people will be viewing those activities through a lens of distrust.Trustworthiness is based on four main drivers: benevolence, ability, predictability and integrity. 

It is not easy. But then HR manager has to decide to get back the respect for his role, team and function. It will be worth the effort. Make a beginning. Make people see the elephant in the room.

Talk about Trust. Make it explicit. 

Establish the business link of trust to results and performance. 

Begin from the leadership level, help them develop self -awareness “How good are they at understanding and managing relationships from their perspective as a leader.”

Invest in training & coaching leaders. 

Help people surface out trust issues, put them on the table and discuss them. Be the facilitator. 

 The role & job is cut out. HR must lead the way and bring trust issues on the table. This “elephant in the room” can be ignored only at the cost of organizational performance in these challenging & competitive times. Begin now.